Cab company banned from Saskatoon airport

A local cab company is at odds with the Saskatoon Airport after a court decision in August preventing them from serving airport customers.

Riide, the city's largest fleet, is worried the decision will lead to confusion for its customers.

Until 2020, Riide had the sole contract to serve customers at the Saskatoon Airport. But after renovations created a new commercial lane for cab companies, the airport switched to an open license model, which Riide says carries extra fees for the drivers.

"We had a very close working relationship with the airport for many years," said Scott Suppes, president and CEO of Riide. "I thought we were all on the same page as far as what we're trying to do, look after customers, and that seems to have shifted considerably."

Riide chose to opt out of the new model but drops customers off at the airport using the public lane.

A statement from the Saskatoon Airport says:

"Since August 2020, Riide has continued to operate on airport property unlicensed, meaning they are not remitting any collected fees to the airport, which has undermined the integrity of our commercial program, to which four other taxi operators are currently participating and abiding."

The airport says it took legal action which led to an injunction against Riide, preventing them from pickups and pre-arranged drop offs at the airport.

Suppes says he's getting emails from clients, worried about the confusion it may cause with pre-arranged or unplanned pickups.

"We can't refuse them Riide, but it would be very problematic to say, you've got to get out of the car, we can't take you to the airport," Suppes told CTV News. "So they're acknowledging that could happen, but what is the definition of pre-booked?"

While he's open to continued conversations with the airport , Suppes says it's not fair to customers.

"I own a taxi company, I fly a lot because of my other business," he said. "I can't use my own taxi at the airport at this point, so that seems wrong."

The airport says four operators are able to transport customers including Captain Taxi, Hey Taxi, Comfort Cabs and Radio Cabs, along with Uber and city bus service.